Chapter Text
Mondstadt, Dandelion Apartments.
A well-established residential complex situated a short distance from the towering, modern apartment complexes. Though it isn’t as flashy or spacious as typical big-city housing, it is an exceptionally comfortable place to live.
As the sound of a cell phone alarm heralding dawn rang out, a man lying in bed slowly stirred. It was the hour when the spring sun had just begun to peek over the horizon; the faint sunlight bathed his golden hair in a warm glow, prompting him to open his eyes.
"Ugh..."
The man’s name is Varka. He is an office worker living an ordinary life like everyone else, and a father of two children. Although he is currently on special leave and has just entered his first month as a full-time stay-at-home dad. Anyway, as the vibration signaling the time wouldn’t stop, he had no choice but to sit up and turn off the phone’s alarm.
"Aaaah... Is it already 6 o’clock..."
He muttered in a half-asleep voice as he stretched. Still feeling the faint aftereffects of the apple wine he’d downed the night before, he stumbled out of bed with sleepy eyes and stood up.
He washed his face with cold water, threw on some light workout clothes, and headed to the living room. Judging by the silence—not a sound to be heard—in his children’s rooms, they were undoubtedly still asleep. Knowing they were fast asleep, Varka smiled quietly and stepped out of the house.
The dawn light, signaling the break of day, enveloped his face. Surrendering himself to the warmth of the morning light, he began his day.
The sun was already rising when Varka returned to the apartment building entrance after his workout and found himself talking to the “building owner.” Unlike Varka, a tall, blond giant, the “building owner” was a small man with dark, blue-tinged hair and a youthful appearance.
“Hey~ Isn’t that Varka? Just coming back from your workout?”
“Oh? Isn’t that you, Sir? As usual, I’m just on my way back after running some errands.”
Seeing the man strolling slowly, Varka greeted him warmly. The boyish-looking man was Venti, the “building owner,” and also Barbatos, the “Chairman” of the Favonius Corporation. To Varka, he was both his boss and the owner of the place where he lived. Although he appeared lazy on the surface, he worked harder than anyone else to take care of his possessions, and this Dandelion Apartment was no exception.
“Yeah! It’s nice to see you so energetic first thing in the morning. How are the kids?”
“Haha! They fell right back to sleep and haven’t budged since. So I let them sleep in and came out.”
“You’re a good dad. Just letting them sleep like that~ By the way, I’m just saying this in case…”
“I have a feeling a new romance might be coming your way.”
"Huh? Around me?"
"Yep, yep, I mean around you. I heard on the radio earlier that Aquarius will have great luck this week~ What do you think?"
"Well, if I do meet someone, I’d like them to be a good person, and it’d be even better if we could become close friends! Hahaha!"
As they chatted in the morning breeze brought by spring, the two parted ways to go about their respective business.
"Alright, thanks for your hard work today. If you meet a good friend, be sure to introduce them to me."
"Haha! Of course! Well, I’ll be heading inside now."
‘A new connection…’
Varka mulled over the fortune the chairman had given her as she walked home with a light step. The chairman lingered there for a moment, watching Varka walk home with a flutter of excitement in her heart.
"Haa... Maybe I should take a nice year-long vacation too~"
The cumulus clouds in the morning sky she looked up at were drifting by in a playful, carefree manner.
When Varka returned home, the clock read 7:00 a.m. The person in the farthest room showed no signs of waking up, while from the room near the living room, he could faintly hear the rustling of a blanket. Thinking it would be fine to wake him up in a little while, he headed to the bathroom to wash up.
Twenty minutes later, as he emerged into the living room looking much fresher, his young son walked out with sleepy eyes and sat down at the dining table.
“Oh, you’re up! I was just about to go wake you up.”
“Good morning… Haaam…”
The child, with long, coarse gray hair that had become a bird’s nest after tossing and turning all night, was the youngest of the family, Razor. As he stared into space with half-closed eyes, Varka headed to the kitchen to start preparing breakfast.
“Okay, now that you’re up, what should we do?”
“Wash up...”
“Alright! Hurry up and wash up, then come out so we can eat breakfast. You need to wake up a bit while you wash your face.”
As his youngest son walked into the bathroom to wake up, he took some frozen bread out of the freezer, put it in the toaster, and began frying eggs in a pan. A very simple breakfast was ready in no time, and by the time his son came out, having finished washing his face and drying it with a towel, he was even leisurely slicing an apple.
As his son sat down at the table, Varka deftly ran his fingers through son's hair.
"Let's see... You dried your hair well today. Come on, let's eat breakfast."
As his son began chewing on a piece of toast, Varka peeled an apple, placed it on a plate, and started his own breakfast.
“School starts today, right? What kind of homeroom teacher do you think would be good?”
“Oh, Ms. Lisa… I’d like Ms. Lisa. She teaches really well…”
“Hahaha! Yeah, let’s hope you meet Ms. Lisa! Oh, and since school starts today, you'll be home soon, right?
"Hmm... Probably. There wasn’t anything on the school website’s lunch board."
"Really? Then I guess I’ll have to make lunch. Your older sister’s classes start today too, so she’ll be home early. How about we go out for dinner tonight? What do you think?"
"...! Sure!"
"Haha! Alright, now the question is how to convince your older sister..."
"...There’s no need for that."
A voice drenched in exhaustion cut through the father-son conversation. The owner of the voice, who soon walked out into the living room, was Rosaria, the eldest daughter of the household. The daughter, with her short, tousled wine-colored hair, sat at the dining table, shoving a peeled apple into her mouth and chewing it roughly.
"Oh, what brings you up so early on the first day of classes? I thought you’d be sleeping in until your afternoon class."
"I was. Until someone started yelling at the crack of dawn."
Varka just chuckled at his daughter’s complaint.
"I was thinking of going out for dinner tonight. What do you think? We didn't get to go out together last year, after all."
"Ugh... Do whatever you want. I'm not a kid, and I'm not going to be sad just because we didn't go out last year."
"Hahaha! Alright. Be ready by 5:30! We’re leaving then!"
Leaving the hearty laughter behind, Rosaria popped the remaining apple into her mouth and returned to her room. By then, young son had already finished his breakfast and even drank some water.
"If you’re done eating, get ready for school. You can’t be late on the first day."
Razor nodded, placed his empty plate in the sink, and began getting ready for school. After washing all the dishes, he went into the bedroom, changed into a sweatshirt and jeans, and came out into the living room, where he saw his son, already neatly dressed and ready for school.
"Okay, you’ve got your bookbag, your school shoe bag... Is there anything else you’ve forgotten?"
“No. I’ve got everything.”
“Alright, let’s go!”
Walking to school, holding his son’s small hand. One of the things he hadn’t been able to do last year was accompany his son on his first day of school. With a light heart, he walked beneath the cherry trees that hadn’t yet bloomed, thinking about what else he could do for his children.
After dropping his son off at school and returning home, Varka started with the household chores that had piled up. He did the laundry, cleaned the bathroom, organized the closet, and tidied up his son’s room (he didn’t touch Rosaria’s room since she was asleep). After frantically finishing the housework, he glanced at the clock and saw it was already past noon.
“Yikes, it’s already this late.”
Varka took ingredients like tomatoes and ground meat out of the fridge and started cooking. About 30 minutes later, the aroma of delicious spaghetti sauce filled the house. Soon, his young son returned from school and energetically opened the front door.
“I’m home!”
“Haha! Welcome home! How was school? What about your homeroom teacher?”
“My homeroom teacher… it was Ms. Lisa…!”
“That’s great! I heard she’s a good teacher, so you have to listen to her well, okay?”
“Yes…!”
“Alright, go wash your hands and let’s eat. I’ll try to wake up your sister.”
While his son set down his bag and went to wash his hands, Varka knocked on the door of the room furthest in the corner.
“Rosaria? Wake up. It’s lunchtime. You have class this afternoon, don’t you? Let’s eat and get ready to go!”
Before he could launch into a long lecture, Rosaria flung the door open. Her face was etched with irritation, but her eyes conveyed that she already knew what was coming. Seeing that his daughter was awake, Varka smiled and went to the kitchen to finish preparing lunch.
Just as Rosaria finished getting ready to go out, a plate of appetizing spaghetti was placed on the table. After Rosaria sat down, the three of them began their cozy lunch together.
A short while later, Rosaria left the house to start the new semester, and Razor went out to play at the playground with some friends who had come over. Left alone, Varka washed the dishes, sat down on the living room sofa, and turned on the TV.
Various commercials were airing on TV. Familiar ones included premium wine from Down Winery, flower delivery from Windmill, the top restaurant Good Hunter, and even an insurance ad for his own company, Favonius. As he casually flipped through the channels, his eyes were drawn to a program he’d never seen before.
“Now, today we’re meeting Ms. Alice, the president of the best publishing house, the Hexenzirkel!”
“Nice to meet you! I’m Alice, the Witch of Joy who protects children’s innocence!”
Ah, a familiar face. Varka had met Alice previously in connection with a business expansion and knew a thing or two about the Hexenzirkel. Hadn’t he heard that the authors affiliated with the publishing house were “witches” who each went by a pen name? In any case, since everyone loved the Hexenzirkel's books, it was practically like magic.
While meeting with Alice for business, Varka naturally became close with her daughter as well. Perhaps because the girl wasn’t much younger than his youngest son, they hit it off immediately and played together. Noticing this, Alice would occasionally bring her daughter over to Varka’s house to play.
“I hear the book you just published, 'The Little Witch and the Fox in the Dandelion Field,' is really popular with kids? I heard the author is someone named ‘Nicola Coco’... Is he a new member of the Hexenzirkel?”
“Hehe, I wonder who wrote it? That's a secret~"
Ignoring Alice’s laughter, Varka changed the channel to watch a different program. 'The Little Witch and the Fox in the Dandelion Field ' was a book Varka was familiar with. And for good reason… On the day it was published, Alice had given him a pre-release copy as a gift, saying, “What’s a friend for?” and because Razor was completely absorbed in that book.
As Varka pondered the unfamiliar name, Nicola Coco, he quickly dismissed it from his mind, reasoning that it was just a stranger anyway.
And so, the afternoon hours slowly slipped by.
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Dinner at Good Hunter.
The three of them, out to eat for the first time in a while, were chatting away.
“So… you actually saw the chairman this morning?”
“Haha! Of course! There’s nothing strange about that, is there? He’s the building owner.”
“Ugh… If it was me, I’d pass on that kind of situation. I’ve finally gotten some vacation time to relax—why would I want to see my boss?”
"What's the big deal? It's not like I got a job just because I met the chairman. Plus, he even told me my horoscope today!"
"What did that guy say?"
"He said Aquarius will have great luck this week! Hahaha!"
"Sigh, it’s just superstition—is that really something to get excited about?"
“Why? I’m just taking it as a joke. Just for fun.”
Amid the bickering between father and daughter, his young son held a glass of water and seemed to be holding back something he wanted to say.
“Besides, you and I share the same zodiac sign, right? You might have some great luck this week, too.”
"Stop going on and on about that luck nonsense. If you’re going to do that, why don’t you check Razor’s horoscope too? He’s at an age where he’d love that kind of thing."
"Oh, shall I check Razor’s horoscope? Let’s see... ‘Professor Megistos’s Horoscope’..."
Varka quickly searched for the horoscope from the radio on his smartphone.
“Ah! It says Virgos should say what they want to say today. Is there anything you want to do or have?”
“Um… well…”
Razor hesitated for a moment. But he shook off his hesitation and spoke up. Even if it was just a horoscope for fun, it had given the child a huge boost of motivation, so it was worth acknowledging as true.
"...Can we three go to an amusement park?"
Razor spoke up.
"Of course! Where do you want to go?"
Well. . . I want to go to Dragon Spine Theme Park. I heard they have a roller coaster that goes through the body of a huge dragon..."
Razor barely managed to contain his excitement as he spoke. Judging by the tone of his voice, it was clear he’d been looking forward to this for a very long time.
“That’s great. You two go ahead.”
Rosaria replied in a dry tone. As a college student, she wasn’t exactly thrilled about going to an amusement park with her younger brother and father. She could only hope her father would realize this and let her off the hook.
“Didn’t Razor just say it? He said ’the three of us.’ So you’re coming too!”
“Yeah. Let’s go together, big sis. I like going out with the three of us.”
“...”
Rosaria finally gave in to the two wolves’ sparkling, hopeful gazes.
“Ugh, fine. I’ll go. But don’t give me any grief if I can’t make it because my schedule suddenly changes. I’m going to be busy this semester.”
Yay! The Big Wolf and the Little Wolf exchanged a light high-five, their faces beaming with joy at their success.
“By the way, this Ms. Megistos seems to give pretty accurate fortune-telling readings.”
“No way. It’s probably just a coincidence. Do you or I have any luck coming our way right now?”
“Haha! We’ll have to wait and see. It’s still Monday, after all!”
Just as the family’s conversation was getting into full swing, their order arrived, and they set the table. With a sweet-and-salty sauce glazed over the chicken, making it look absolutely delicious, the three of them put their conversation on hold and began their meal together.
After their first meal out in a while, the three returned to their home bathed in moonlight and were wrapping up the day and getting ready for tomorrow. Rosaria had already gone to her room, and Razor was lying in his bed, pulling the covers over himself and getting ready for sleep.
"Um... Dad. You know..."
"Hm? What's wrong? What's going on?"
"Last night, in my dream, Mr. Lupica appeared..."
"So Andrius appeared. Did he say anything?"
"Well, he didn't say anything. He just quietly stroked my head."
"...I see."
Varka didn't say anything else; instead, he reached out with his large hand and gently stroked Razor's head. As his large hand withdrew from the gray hair, his son was fast asleep, breathing softly and steadily.
Stepping out into the living room, Varka took a can of beer from the fridge and opened it. He walked over to the balcony door, leaned quietly against the doorframe, and looked up at the silvery moon.
"Hey, are you worried about Razor? I told you I’d take good care of him..."
Then, raising his beer can toward the moon in a toast, he downed half of it in one gulp.
"Phew, even though I may not look like it, I’m his father... Just trust me a little."
It was a night when only a bitter feeling flowed down his burning throat.
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That night, at the office of the publishing company “Hexenzirkel.”
The “Hexenzirkel ” publishing house. A place that was the exact opposite of the typical stiff and cold office atmosphere, it was more like a workshop filled with various dolls, art supplies, books, and clay—just as one would expect from a “magical space” where children’s books are created. At midnight, with the moon casting a faint glow, the “Witch of Joy” was speaking on the phone in the office.
“…Ah~ Of course! You know you’re coming tomorrow, right? Don’t worry—no one will know you’re coming!”
“…Really? No one will know?”
“Of course~! I’ve even heard there’s a trustworthy person living right next door to where you’re moving! I guarantee it—not just me, but Klee vouches for them too!”
“I really hope it’s someone nice.”
“Hehe, just trust me and Klee. Oh! Here’s my two cents… I think you and that person will get along really well!”
“Come on, how can you be so sure about that?”
“I just get a feeling when I see them~ Anyway, get some rest and I’ll see you tomorrow, Nicole!”
“Okay. Good night, Alice.”
'Click.'
After ending the call, the Witch of Joy let out a short sigh and looked around her office. Seeing the various fairy tales lined up on the bookshelf, Alice murmured softly.
"Maybe a new genre will be added to stories..."